Bracket system for roof framing



Aug. 1, 1967 c. w. TRACY 3,333,875

BRACKET SYSTEM FOR ROOF FRAMING Filed Jan. 7, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 f I INVENTOR Ckarles PK Tra 9 I ATTORNEm Aug. 1, 1967 c. w. TRACY 3,333,875

BRACKET SYSTEM FOR ROOF FRAMING Filed Jan. 7", 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR (fiarias W Tray I I ATTORNEYS Aug. 1, 1967 c. w. TRACY 3,333,875

BRACKET SYSTEM FOR ROOF FRAMING Filed Jan. 7, 1965 5 SheetsSheet 5 INVENTOR CYar/c: W 77'acy "ATTORNEKS United States Patent 3,333,875 BRACKET SYSTEM FOR ROOF FRAMING Charles W. Tracy, Tallahassee, Fla., assignor, by mesne assignments, to International Enterprises, Inc., Tallahassee, Fla.

Filed Jan. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 423,988 4 Claims. (Cl. 287-2094) This invention relates to buildings and building structures of various kinds, to the construction of the same including the roofs, and to the labor, equipment and materials employed, as well as to the time, effort and expense involved in the erection of the same.

The invention relates particularly to the construction of the frame structure for the roofs of buildings, to the manner of fabrication thereof, and to a bracket system for enabling and facilitating such framing by unskilled labor with a minimum of equipment, in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort and expense.

Roof structures have been produced in various ways including by the cutting of timbers to make them fit together, with or without the utilization of various types of fasteners and angle members including brackets, some of which have elongated receiving sockets. Prior procedures, structures and devices have been found unsatisfactory for modern fabrication because of the requirement of special tools, skilled workmen to perform the necessary cutting and fitting, resulting in the use of large amounts of materials and the expenditure of a great amount of time and money.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bracket system for use in the erection of roof frames by means of which an unskilled person readily can erect a chosen roof frame structure of good architectural design and con struction, with the desired pitches and precision accuracy, by the use of preformed brackets in which timbers constituting the frame members can be easily placed in such brackets and nailed or otherwise secured in place, utilizing standard lumber without having to cut the same other than to trim the projecting extremities at the eaves if desired after the roof frame is in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and means for constructing a roof frame utilizing conventional timbers without requiring special cutting of the same, such as plumb and plate cuts, hip and valley cuts and jack cuts, and by means of which the brackets may be afiixed to spaced brackets into which the timbers can be readily dropped and nailed without cutting or previous computation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a roof frame of a design providing a ridge, hips and valleys;

FIG. 2, a transverse section through the ridge pole and lower wall plate on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, a perspective illustrating ridge brackets;

FIG. 4, a plan view of the blank of which the upper portion of the ridge bracket of FIG. 3 is formed;

FIG. 5, a blank of the channel member of the ridge bracket of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6, an exploded perspective view of the blanks of FIGS. 4 and 5 formed ready for assembly;

FIG. 7, a perspective of the bracket of FIG. 3 with a king pole portion added;

FIG. 8, a perspective of a ridge pole and valley assembly bracket;

FIG. 9, a top plan view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10, a perspective of a hip bracket for attachment to a ridge pole for receiving jack rafters;

FIG. 11, a perspective of a bracket used in the assembly of a valley for receiving the jack rafters;

FIG. 12, a further modified form of the bracket illustrated in FIG. 7 with brackets for receiving the hip forming member of a hip roof; and,

FIG. 13, a top plan view of FIG. 12.

Briefly stated, the present invention is a bracket system or series of brackets which can be used with conventional timbers or pieces of lumber to erect the frame of a roof of the desired configuration or architectural design and construction by the mere location of the brackets in position to receive such timbers. In such construction a ridge pole is provided with brackets spaced in the desired manner and a series of brackets are placed along the plate on the upper wall of the structure. Timbers are dropped into the ridge pole bracket and corresponding plate bracket at each side of the ridge pole with the ridge pole elevated and at the proper height, and the rafters are fastened after they are dropped in place by means of nails, screws or other fasteners inserted through openings in the brackets. In this manner a roof frame may be produced and such roof may be either a straight roof or a complex roof having hips, valleys and the like.

With continued reference to the drawings, in the practice of the invention, the wall structure of a house is constructed in the usual manner having studs or upright members 10 on which a wall plate 11 is attached along the top of the several walls. Upon the wall plate 11 a roof frame is erected which may be of simple construction, or may be of complex construction as illustrated in FIG. 1 in which receiving brackets 12 are placed at spaced intervals along the top surface of the plate 11 and on which are adapted to be placed the lower ends of rafters 13.

In order to apply the rafters 13, a ridge pole 14 is provided on which a series of brackets 15 are attached in spaced relation. In the brackets 15 and 12 are placed the rafters 13 which are secured in place by means of nails, screws, or other fasteners 16. Also the bracket 15 is secured to the ridge pole by means of additional nails or other fasteners 16, such fasteners likewise being employed to secure the bracket 12 to the plate 11 and rafters 13.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, it is unnecessary to cut the usually square ends of the rafters to any desired angle as their ends fit against the angular surface of the bracket, as will be described hereinafter in greater detail.

The bracket 15 is formed from an elongated blank 17 (FIG. 4) having a first or central main portion 18 with openings 19 for nails. The blank is adapted to be bent at each side of the main portion along transverse lines 20, 21, 22 to provide flat or planar second, third, and fourth portions 23, 24 and 25, the latter having nail or fastener openings 26 at each side of the main portion 18 and with longitudinal lines 27 to enable the outward bending of the edge portions 28 and 29 at right angles to the planar surface 24.

The blank 17 is bent or shaped to provide the bracket 30 of the configuration illustrated in FIG. 6. After bending the bracket to the desired shape, the extremity 31 of the planar portion 25 is tack welded to the under surface of the bracket and along the bent line 20. Thus the planar portion 23 is an auxiliary portion from which extends an additional portion 24, and a reversely bent or extending portion 25 to provide a triangular structure. The planar portion 24 is adapted to have an end of the rafter 13 abut thereagainst it and the flanges 28 and 29 serve to receive or overlap an additional U-shaped channel bracket 32 formed from a blank 33 as illustrated in FIG. 5, being bent along the bend lines 34 at right angles to the central portion 35 of the blank. The blank 33 has nail or other fastener receiving openings 36 through which nails or other fasteners can be driven into the rafter 13. The U-shaped channel member 32 is adapted to have one of its edges abut the planar member 24 and be connected 3 by tack welds 37 to the flanges 28 and 29 of the main portion of the bracket so that the entire bracket will provide a unitary construction as illustrated in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 7 there is illustrated a modified form of a bracket 38 which includes the bracket 30 illustrated in FIG. 3 to which is added an additional triangular member 39 welded to one side thereof and the member 39 also provides flange members 28 and 29 for securing an additional U-member 32. This type of bracket is used where a ridge member and king and jack rafters are employed.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a further modified form of bracket 40 which includes the bracket illustrated in FIG. 3 to which additional members are added including a T- type ridge 41, and additional triangular members 42 and 43 welded to opposite sides of the leg of the T-member. On the opposite side of the leg of the T-member also is welded an angular member 44 similar to the member 39 of FIG. 7. The cross member of the T 41 re ceives the main ridge portion 14 and the leg member receives an auxiliary ridge member 14' resting in and secured thereby in a inverted U-member 32. Additional U-members 32 are affixed to the triangular members 42 and 43 to receive the valley rafters.

FIG. illustrates a further modified form of a bracket 45 employed along the ridge member forming the hip of a roof. The bracket 45 has a flat top surface 46 with flanges 47 depending therefrom and welded to the under side of said flat top. The bracket 45 also has triangular members 48 and 49 welded to the depending flange members 47 disposed downwardly and at an angle from the fiat surface 46, said triangular members 48 and 49 having U-rnembers 32 affixed thereto for receiving jack rafters.

In FIG. 11 a further modified form of bracket 50 is illustrated and employed in the forming of a valley in a roof structure. This bracket is similar to the bracket illustrated in FIG. 10 wherein it is reversed or inverted in the opposite direction.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a bracket 51 further modifying the bracket 38 of FIG. 7 wherein additional triangular members 52 and 53 are employed to receive gable forming rafter members in U-members 32.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that relatively simple bracket system is provided by the use of which the frame of a roof can be readily constructed without the use of special tools and by one unskilled workman which is illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

' 1. A bracket for use in the framing of the roof of a building having a plurality of roof elements including a ridge beam and rafters disposed on a predetermined pitch, said bracket comprising a first portion adapted to overlie one of the roof elements, a second portion connected to said first portion and extending outwardly therefrom at an angle substantially corresponding to the predetermined pitch of the rafters, a third portion connected to said second portion and disposed generally perpendicular thereto and forming an abutment surface for another of the roof elements, a fourth portion connected to said third portion at one end and attached to said first portion at the opposite end, said fourth portion being generally parallel with said one roof element, a generally U-shaped member attached to said third portion and extending substantially perpendicular therefrom, said U-shaped member adapted to receive and support said other roof element adjacent one end, whereby the other of the roof framing elements will be received by said U-shaped member in abutting relation with said third portion of the bracket and will be supported by said one roof element.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said second portion is generally in transverse alignment with said first portion.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said second portion is disposed at a transverse angle relative to said first portion.

4. The structure of claim 1 including means for fastening said fourth portion to said one roof element and for fastening said U-shaped member to said other roof element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,657,243 1/ 1928 Daniels 28720.92 1,787,167 12/1930 Purdy 52--92 2,234,960 3/ 1941 Buelow 52-92 2,611,160 9/1952 Hanesse 28720.95 2,931,129 4/ 1960 Boniface 28720.94

FOREIGN PATENTS 611,480 10/1960 Italy.

I. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner.

J. L. RIDGILL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A BRACKET FOR USE IN THE FRAMING OF THE ROOF OF A BUILDING HAVING A PLURALITY OF ROOF ELEMENTS INCLUDING A RIDGE BEAM AND RAFTERS DISPOSED ON A PREDETERMINED PITCH, SAID BRACKET COMPRISING A FIRST PORTION ADAPTED TO OVERLIE ONE OF THE ROOF ELEMENTS, A SECOND PORTION CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST PORTION AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM AT AN ANGLE SUBSTANTIALLY CORRESPONDING TO THE PREDETERMINED PITCH OF THE RAFTERS, A THIRD PORTION CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND PORTION AND DISPOSED GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR THERETO AND FORMING AN ABUTMENT SURFACE FOR ANOTHER OF THE ROOF ELEMENTS, A FOURTH PORTION CONNECTED TO SAID THIRD PORTION AT ONE END AND ATTACHED TO SAID FIRST PORTION AT THE OPPOSITE END, SAID FOURTH PORTION BEING GENERALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID ONE ROOF ELEMENT, A GENERALLY U-SHAPED MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID THIRD PORTION AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR THEREFROM, SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT SAID OTHER ROOF ELEMENT ADJACENT ONE END, WHEREBY THE OTHER OF THE ROOF FRAMING ELEMENTS WILL BE RECEIVED BY SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER IN ABUTTING RELATION WITH SAID THIRD PORTION OF THE BRACKET AND WILL BE SUPPORTED BY SAID ONE ROOF ELEMENT. 